The white limousine parked in front of Windsor Middle School Tuesday drew plenty of attention and questions from students who wanted to know the identity of lucky passengers.

Eighth graders Brandon Spurlock and Hunter Dahlgren didn't need to ask: The two students knew their three years of perfect attendance earned them the luxurious ride to a special lunch. They both wore huge grins as they walked out to the limousine to get their ride to lunch.

As a long-standing tradition, the middle school takes eighth graders who have maintained a perfect attendance record for all three years of school to a lunch of their choice in a limousine, said Windsor Middle School Principal Eric Johnson.

Tuesday the two boys, the only eighth graders with a perfect middle school attendance record this year, chose to go to P.F. Chang's.

"(Hunter) wanted Chinese food," Brandon said with a smile Tuesday on their way out to the limousine.

For the most part, they just worked to show up, both students said.

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"And I don't get sick a lot," Hunter said.

Attendance is a good thing to celebrate because it represents one of the biggest predictors of student academic success, Johnson said.

"(The lunch) is an effort to recognize just how rare and special it is that a student is able to come to school every single day without nary a single absence," he said. "We feel it's good to recognize that and tell them how proud we are of that accomplishment."

A perfect attendance record is something to take pride in, Johnson said. "Certainly it's rather exceptional, (and) it certainly doesn't happen with great frequency," he said. Last year the school had eight students who managed to achieve a perfect attendance record.

The celebratory lunch is a great way for the school to engage with students and their parents and recognizes the scarifies parents have made to make sure their kids get to school despite days with inclement weather. "That's another reason we want to make a big deal about it," Johnson said, "because it's not just the school and the individual students that have contributed to this, but certainly the family's support and working well with the school make it possible."

Mostly though, the limousine and lunch lets the students know they have done a great job, he said.